A Winner is You! Kurosaki Ichigo!
by Khellan Rafe
Summary: Entry for tournament, "A Winner is You!" Hosted by avatarjk137.
1. Introducing Kurosaki Ichigo

Shinigami are a rare site anywhere, especially in the world of the living. Reason being, they are not physical people, but souls. For the most part, anyway. Which is why a certain orange-haired shinigami was so confused at the moment. Everyone seemed to be watching him! He had long since given control of his body over to Kon, his not-so-trusted Modified Soul, and was traversing El Centro De El Mundo in his death god persona. Yet, every living person he'd passed was staring at him! It didn't make any sense.

Like so much else in his life, however, Kurosaki Ichigo decided to just ignore it. Ever since he became a death god, things in his life hadn't made much sense at all. Basic rules that he had been taught as a child about the worlds of life and death had been shattered, so why would the new rules be any different? Adjusting the gigantic meat cleaver on his back for more comfort, he continued walking through the great building.

The story here was, apparently, that some high-level hollows had appeared and he had been specifically requested to deal with them. That in itself didn't make sense to him, as he was a mere interim shinigami and not technically under the control of Soul Society. When he'd asked the old man in charge about it before being sent here, Yamamoto had given him a glare that could have been rivaled by the devil and told him to, "Get the f& to the damn mall."

That being the case, Ichigo ignored the insensibility of it all.

So here he was, in the hallways of an immense mall, and he had no idea where any hollows where, and was quite certain he could search for a week straight and find nothing. Suddenly, he was brought out of his inner grumblings, "Ah, you there, shinigami-san! I've been looking all over for you. I would assume Genryusai-dono sent you?"

Turning, Ichigo was greeted with a strange and delicious site: a... person made entirely of chocolate. Blinking at this strange being, the young man responded with an eloquent, "Huh?"

Death by Chocolate made his grinning way to the death god, already trying to decide if it would be more entertaining to keep the bot in the dark about the tournament or get him to participate unknowingly. Decisions, decisions...

Before the chocolate demon could make his choice, however, Ichigo was already talking, "So, where are all these hollow I'm supposed to get rid of? I haven't even sensed one since I got here."

Grinning deviously, DbC made his move, "Ah, so the old codger kept you in the dark after all, eh? No matter, I'll explain the situation. The hollow are," here the tasty tournament officiator took a deep breath before continuing, "nonexistent."

Veins instantly sprouted from Ichigo's forehead, and he grabbed Zangetsu's hilt threateningly before asking, "So why the hell am I here!?" DbC only continued to grin further enraging the hot-headed shinigami.

Before he could explode, however, DbC explained some more, "You see, the old man owed me a favor for services rendered in the past. I'm hosting a tournament of fighters here, and had a few drop out on me. I called in my favor from the old man to get a replacement fighter, and here you are! So, sound like fun? Wanna take out that frustration and anger on some people who probably deserve it?"

The veins had faded, and he'd released his zanpakuto's hilt, but Ichigo was still speaking through gritted teeth, "I don't give a damn about your stupid tournament! I'm supposed to be training for a war, not participating in a stupid contest!"

DbC threw out the bait, "What if I told you the winner was entitled one wish, no matter how grandiose, from none other than myself? What would you say then?"

The young man's face went from anger, to concentration, to a devious, almost maniacal smile. Taking the sword from his back, Ichigo said in his most confident voice, "I'd say, who's ass do I have to kick?"


	2. Round 2

"A shinigami? Well, this should be interesting." Kyuubi sneered, trying to intimidate the black robed man standing across from him. Ichigo stared back impassively, his right hand moving to grip the hilt of his sword, Zangetsu.

Taking the sword from his back, he pointed it at the fox demon, "You seem to know a lot about what I am, but I know nothing about you. Except your name, of course." The strawberry-haired young man stared intently at the demon, watching every swish of his nine tails, every twitch of his muscles. There would be no taking this lightly.

Still sneering derisively, Kyuubi responded with the utmost disdain, "If my name doesn't tell you anything, then you'll know nothing more. Unless I decide to show you." Kyuubi hunched over at that point, in what Ichigo took to be his fighting stance. Almost half the height he was when standing, his hands nearly scraped the ground, evoking a feral, animalistic sight.

Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo said simply, "Then I won't hold back. Bankai!" An explosion of reiatsu followed the exclamation, a veritable flood of blue energy pouring off the death god as one beam-like projection shot straight from the tip of his zanpakuto at the Kyuubi. Barely registering it with the backdrop as it was, Kyuubi felt it singe the fur on his tails as he sidestepped. Grinning, he looked back at the newly clothed death god, Kurosaki Ichigo. This would indeed be interesting.

Ichigo stood the same as before, only his eyes darting to track Kyuubi's movements. His garb had changed slightly, however, as his jacket top had become more of a long coat with ripped and fraying edges, ankle-length and with white lining. His sword had shrunk from a giant, six-foot meat cleaver to a regular sized daito. It was also completely black, with a short chain on the pommel ending in a half-link. Taking the sword in both hands, he turned slightly to face Kyuubi full on.

"Tensa Zangetsu."

Seemingly before the words had left Ichigo's mouth, the two combatants were gone from where they'd been standing, meeting halfway in a clash of arms. Kyuubi had used one hand to block Ichigo's two-handed swing, leaving his left open for a vicious swipe to the shinigami's midsection. Four slash marks appeared on Ichigo's black coat as he pivoted out of the way, spinning all the way around to slash at the Kyuubi with greater momentum.

But the demon wasn't there.

"You should never turn your back on your opponent, Kurosaki Ichigo." Red hot pain exploded on Ichigo's back as the Kyuubi connected with a two hand slash attack. Gasping, the young death god barely had the presence of mind to move out of the way of any follow up attacks. This was ridiculous! Not even Byakuya had been able to fully keep up with his bankai's speed, and this Kyuubi creature had just beaten it!

Glaring at the red-haired humanoid, Ichigo could barely keep himself from charging in blindly, and old and useless battle tactic of his. Taking in a calming breath, the death god brought his sword into a ready position. Taking another breath, he said to the waiting, smirking Kyuubi, "You are much stronger than I would ever have thought possible. You're forcing me to go as far as I can in my first fight. But it ends now." At this, Kyuubi started laughing, until a shockwave of power hit him full on.

Staring in curiosity now, Kyuubi watched as Ichigo was enveloped in a black and red aura of power. It felt like a mix of his original, human energy and something almost demonic. Raising an eyebrow, Kyuubi also watched a mask materialize on Ichigo's face, white with red stripes on the left side. _His power is growing at an incredible rate. If this keeps up, he'll be able to match me. Could he be a jinchuuriki? No, his chakra doesn't feel right for that…_

Before anything else was forthcoming, Ichigo disappeared, coming up behind Kyuubi and slashing at his back. The demon was able to duck, barely, and saw a few hairs float down in front of him before he shot forward at his top speed. The boy paced him, however, and eventually overtook him. Ichigo met the Kyuubi's escape-turned-charge head on; catching the youkai's clawed hands on his sword.

"You're mine. Getsuga Tensho!" Slashing down, a wave of incredibly powerful dark energy enveloped Kyuubi before he could move, sweeping him up. Relaxing his stance, Ichigo let his mask fade away. Trying to sense where the Kyuubi had gone, he suddenly felt a burst of the most awful, malevolent energy he'd ever known. He barely kept his composure, but couldn't keep the flicker of worry off his face.

A steaming figure was walking from the dust of Ichigo's attack, completely enveloped in the malevolent, red energy. Kyuubi's face was a sneering mask of rage, eyes wild and glaring straight at Ichigo. Snarling, the demon charged again at the young man, barely giving him time to put his hollow mask back on. Before he could think about catching the Kyuubi's claws again, the kitsune disappeared, reappearing behind the human. Spinning wildly, Ichigo parried one of the claws heading for his body, but the other got through and gave him a nasty slash across the midsection.

Barely keeping up with the Kyuubi's onslaught of attacks, Ichigo didn't have time to gather energy for another Getsuuga Tenshou. _This is unreal! We were on equal footing before, and now this guy's power is at least double mine! I can't win like this!_ Before Ichigo could think of anything, another claw strike got through, this time digging into his abdominal area. Doubling over in pain, he couldn't move out of the way of Kyuubi's downward strike to the back of his head. As his face hit the ground, he was halfway to unconsciousness. _Damn. Looks like this is as far as I go…_

Before everything went dark, however, he found himself standing on the side of a building, facing his sword in its truest manifestation. A middle aged man with long black hair, yellow-tinted shades, a tattered white undershirt, and equally ragged black cloak. "Ichigo. Why are you fighting?"

Taken off guard by this question, the orange-haired young man took a moment to respond, "I'm in this tournament at a place called El Centro Del Mundo, and this guy—" The substitute Shinigami was cut off, as Zangetsu clearly wasn't talking about the tournament.

"I am aware of your situation, Ichigo, but why are you fighting? What did I tell you when last we spoke here?" Ichigo knew exactly what Zangetsu was talking about, when he'd fought Zaraki Kenpachi in Seireitai.

Nodding in understanding, Ichigo said simply, "Dull intent, dull blade." Zangetsu gave a simple nod in response, as Ichigo was sent back to his conscious mind. Picking himself off the ground with a small groan of pain, he climbed a little unsteadily to his feet. He immediately saw the Kyuubi turning around to face him again, the aura of red chakra gone from his body.

Eyeing the shinigami curiously, the demon said, "I congratulate you on your perseverance, but I think we both know what will happen if you attack me again. I'd rather leave you able to fight another day, since you remind me of someone I respect. As much as I respect any human, at least."

Ichigo smiled a small smile, and took up his fighting stance with one hand this time. His other was currently occupied with keeping his stomach inside his body. He replied, "That's awfully nice of you, as much as any demon is considered nice. But your offer is unnecessary. I just had to be reminded of the most basic principle of swordsmanship."

Nodding his head in what a human would have considered a sage manner; Kyuubi appeared in front of Ichigo and slashed for his head. The shinigami had already used shunpo to escape, however, and re-donned his mask. Diving back in, Ichigo slashed viciously for Kyuubi's midsection, which the demon tried to catch with it's claw as it had done the whole fight. Much to the fox's surprise, the shinigami's blade sliced right through, severing four fingers and a chunk of his palm.

Growling in pain and rage, Kyuubi was once more enveloped in his red aura of chakra. Ichigo could see the hand he'd half severed begin to grow back before his eyes. Kyuubi launched into another frenzy, but Ichigo was prepared for the wild, fast strikes this time. Using all his training, Ichigo was able to wait out the Kyuubi's wild barrage, and managed to score some hits besides.

After Kyuubi broke from his assault, Ichigo began gathering his reiatsu for one last attack. Noticing this through his haze of rage, Kyuubi gathered a great amount of its chakra for it's own attack. Kyuubi had his chakra gathered quickest, and unleashed a hellish red blast at Ichigo. When the dust cleared, the shinigami was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn foolish human. Hope he's alive though, I want to keep fighting in this tournament…" Suddenly Kyuubi felt the boys' presence again, _right behind him._

"Getsuga Tensho." Ichigo said softly, unleashing a massive blast of reiatsu at the Kyuubi. He'd used shunpo not seconds before the demon's attack would have consumed him, getting behind the damn thing with ease. Charging into the dust after the things malevolent chakra signature, Ichigo found a weakened kitsune no yoko just beginning to get up. Ichigo was on it in moments, blade held strong against the demon's throat, "Give up, or I'll separate your head from your shoulders."

The demon was caught, and it knew it. Inside this mortal shell, it would be subject to the laws of physical death, though its demon fox form would hardly notice. Sneering, he replied to the shinigami, "I concede, human. I hope I see you again soon after this tournament, so I can show you my real power." Holding back a shiver, Ichigo held the demon's gaze and removed his blade.

There was an abrupt twisting of the air, and then Death by Chocolate was loudly proclaiming Ichigo the winner. The boy hardly heard as he kept seeing the Kyuubi's face sneering at him promising death. Only one thing was on his mind after that, _If I ever see Yamamoto Sotaichou after this, he's gonna die._

A/N: It occurs to me I forgot to put translations in.

Kyyubi: nine tails

Zangetsu: cutting moon

Tensa Zangetsu: heavenly chain cutting the moon

Getsuuga Tensho: heaven stabbing moon fang

Youkai: demon


	3. Round 3

Ichigo and Scorpion vs. Vincent Valentine and Lancer

"Partners? What kinda weird rule is that? Thought this was an individual tournament…" Shrugging it off, Ichigo tried to find his own partner, Scorpion, before the fight started. With how things had been going, the shinigami wouldn't put it past DbC to start a fight with only half of one team there. Just to make it interesting. Catching sight of a lot of yellow, Ichigo made his way towards a muscular, ninja-like man.

Before he got within a dozen feet, the man turned his way, asking in a very unsettling voice, "Kurosaki Ichigo, I presume?" This man sounded like Kyuubi, his voice rasping out, a faint stench of brimstone wafting off him.

Controlling his surge of fear, Ichigo nodded as he approached, "Yeah, that's me. You must be Scorpion. Any idea where we're supposed to find our opponents?"

Scorpion didn't answer right away, instead choosing to give his partner a once over. He looked strong, but if the hellish ninja remembered correctly, this man had lost his only fight in the tournament. A late comer, and a loser, for a partner? Although intellectually the ninja knew his record was much the same, his pride would never allow him to admit he'd been beaten. Scorpion sneered under his mask, looking away, "I prefer to have my opponents come to me. Looking for them here would be a waste of time."

Nodding and narrowing his eyes at the man's dismissive attitude, Ichigo likewise waited for their opponents. Lancer and Vincent Valentine. He knew nothing of either one, and was reluctant to continue a conversation with his partner. _Ah well, soon enough we'll see what they're capable of, and then Scorpion can pick his jaw off the floor. _Smirking to himself, Ichigo settled in to wait.

Shortly thereafter, Scorpion broke the silence, surprisingly. Looking at him just stand there, Ichigo was given to thinking of him as an unfriendly statue. "So, you fought Kyuubi-sensei in the last round, did you?"

That brought a slight chill to Ichigo's spine, but he refused to let it show. Not moving to look at his partner, he said simply, "Yeah."

Scorpion continued, "You lost."

Tightening his jaw, and turning to look at the ninja, Ichigo replied through gritted teeth, "Yeah."

Likewise turning to look at his opponent, Scorpion said with a raised eyebrow, as if Ichigo's response made him look stupid, "It wasn't a question. Of course you lost."

Resisting the urge to draw his sword and show Scorpion just what the Kyuubi had to go through to net a victory over a death god, he settle for imaging the nine tailed demon as a plushy. A really, really fluffy plushy.

Four hours later, an unhealthy tic had developed above his left eye. He was sure he'd seen Scorpion twitch at least once in the past two hours. The two fighters hadn't seen neither hide nor hair of anyone from the tournament since the announcement was made about this round. No other contestants, no victorious or defeated teams, no DbC to yell at. Not a damn thing!

Finally, he'd had enough. Four hours, it seemed, was the longest period of time he could keep himself still, "Alright, to hell with waiting for those lazy bastards to show up! I'm going to find them, you do what you want." With that, Ichigo walked away, surprised when he felt Scorpion fall into step beside him.

Glancing over, the Shinigami was somewhat intimidated to see the fires of Hell reflected in the ninja's eyes. Turning back to look forward, he smirked. Ichigo would hate to be either of his opponents at the moment.

Looking for Lancer and Vincent, while a good way to walk off the anticipatory energy waiting for them had accumulated, was just as frustrating. After an hour of walking, the yellow and orange fighters had stopped once again. Now, an hour later, both were increasingly… short tempered. "Walking around aimlessly is getting us nowhere. We will wait until they show up." Scorpion, outwardly calm, was seething with rage inside. He would obliterate these two opponents of his, and then beat the hell out of Ichigo for good measure.

"F—k that! We waited for four hours, then walked for one, and we've already waited another hour! I am not gonna let my legs cramp up because you're a lazy-ass!" Scorpion had turned on Ichigo then, a fire worse than before in his white eyes.

Before the fight could escalate between the partners, three rapid shots rang out, causing the both of them to jump away from each other before they were disabled. Turning on the shooter, they saw a man in red and black, holding a three barreled gun tightly in his right hand, his left covered in a brass claw that was twitching wildly. Before anything else could be done, a man in a blue skintight suit with silver pauldrons dove from above, trying to cleave Ichigo in two with a spear.

The Shinigami was barely quick enough to get out of the way. Taking his sword quickly from his back, Ichigo brought it in front of himself and blocked the man's next attack. Pushing him away with a hard shove, the strawberry haired swordsman moved to separate his partner from the gun-toting man in red.

The spear-wielding attacker from before was already charging back in, talking as he rushed the duo, "Uh-uh, bastard! We've been looking for you for hours! NO WAY you're getting away!" Ichigo and Scorpion immediately separated once more to dodge the newest attack, Ichigo twirling in mid-air to dodge Vincent's newest volley of lead.

Scorpion though, had taken Lancer's words to heart, "My thoughts exactly! GET OVER HERE!" Lancer looked up at his airborne opponent to see rope with a very pointy end flying his direction. With no time to dodge, he braced for the attack, grunting in pain at the hit in his shoulder. On his way towards the yellow ninja, he brought his spear in front of him, trying to at least return a stab wound.

Imagine the man's surprise when Scorpion disappeared in a burst of flame. The next thing Lancer knew, he had received a kick to his right ribs, sending him flying back towards the ground. Vincent was taking aim at the still airborne Scorpion, trying to capitalize on his inattention. Before he could get a shot off, he was dodging a horizontal slash at his midsection from Ichigo, a look of satisfaction on his face.

With a small adjustment, Vincent's new target was trying valiantly to dodge the volleys of three bullets a piece. After three successful evasions, the next two had three bullets wing the Shinigami in several places, with one direct his to his left shoulder. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he uttered a simple, "Bankai." Vincent was thrown away in the middle of reloading Cerberus, an explosion of power sending his ammo flying. His gun still firmly in hand, he hastily tried to reload again.

Before he even got halfway there, a sword was at his neck, completely different from the monstrous meat cleaver the boy was wielding before. It was all black, with a small chain running off the end of the hilt. The boy himself was now dressed differently, in what looked like a cloth trench coat connected at the abdomen, and the same black pants. "Yield, or you'll live just long enough to get medical attention."

Surprised, Vincent still had the presence of mind to see through the bluff. If Ichigo struck now, he would definitely lose, and the boy knew it. Making use of a materia hidden in his gauntlet, Vincent uttered a simple, "Firaga." An explosion of flame issued from the palm of his gauntlet, conveniently pointed Ichigo's direction. Using speed and reactions only his Bankai was capable of, Ichigo dove to the right with every ounce of both he could muster.

Meanwhile, in the half-minute or so it had taken Vincent and Ichigo to complete their exchange, Lancer couldn't land a single hit on Scorpion. It wasn't for lack or trying, his abilities just couldn't compete with the instant teleportation Scorpion could bring to bear. Even his fastest attack, which was supposed to hit before he thrust his spear as an inversion of causality, wasn't able to get to the demon!

Of course, Scorpion didn't know what attributes Lancer had in his spear, or what he was avoiding, time and again. He was just god-awfully pissed off that his opponents had the temerity to accuse _him _of delaying the fight! He didn't much care that forced teleportation, one after the other as he was performing, were very dangerous. He didn't care that the next one could send him hurling back into Hell for the foreseeable future. He just wanted Lancer in pain. A very, very great deal of pain.

Lancer was running out of options, he couldn't get a bead on this Scorpion. Trying to put some distance in between the two of them, he leaped back in time to see an explosion of fire from Vincent and Ichigo off balance close to him. Grinning savagely, Lancer had impaled the death god through the gut before the other man had even touched both feet on the ground. Looking directly into a pair of surprised brown eyes, Lancer's only words were, "Gei Boruku: Sashi Ugatsu Shikyoku no Yari (Gae Bolg: The Spear of Impaling Barbed Death)."

Surprised though he was at not being able to detect a near fatal blow until after it landed, Ichigo never the less managed a weak slash at Lancer, forcing him to disengage. Taking a knee after the spear was yanked from his body, he looked up to see Scorpion standing over him, facing down their two enemies as both parties regrouped. "Can you continue?" the yellow clad ninja's disdain at having to ask the question showed plainly to Ichigo, which only fueled his already prodigious anger.

His loss to an all powerful demon in the first round. Being more scared than when he'd faced Zaraki Kenpachi, feeling like he was a child with no more strength than a gnat. Being cut, slashed, and generally tossed around by every damn person in this damned tournament, and now his own partner was writing him off?!

Getting up and growling low in his throat, the shinigami shoved Scorpion to the side with more force than was strictly necessary. Turning his head so he could look the other man in the eyes, he ground out, "Just stay outta my damn way. I'm not fucking around with these two anymore." Looking fully back at his two enemies, Ichigo could feel his inner Hollow trying to take control away from him. For the first time in his life, Ichigo actually considered it. None of his friends were here, and if he was disqualified, he wouldn't leave with anything less than he came.

Shoving those thoughts and feelings away, he strengthened his resolve and took the power that was rightfully his from that deranged little bastard he shared a body with. He could come out and play when Ichigo himself was dead!

Lancer and Vincent watched the byplay between teammates with something akin to relief. A divided force was an easy victory. These thoughts were shattered by an explosion of black reiatsu as Ichigo unleashed his full power on the two he was meant to fight. The force of his spirit pressure was enough to bring both fighters to their knees, as his now-yellow eyes glared a burning hole through each of their souls. If not for their entirely unique origins, they may have been overpowered by that simple glare. But Vincent had had a demon inhabiting his body not too long ago, and Lancer himself was a demigod, and not unfamiliar with Ichigo's level of power.

Not giving either man a chance to recover from their slight case of shock and awe, Ichigo blurred into nothing, appearing in between the two men, slashing in a wide circle, trying to get them both. Lancer's superior agility was enough to get him away from the ridiculously fast attack, but Vincent wasn't so lucky, receiving a shallow cut along his ribs. Ichigo immediately dove after Lancer, hardly allowing him time to think, much less counter-attack. Scorpion was on Vincent like brooding on a troubled teen, keeping the fight too close for his gun to be of much use.

Lancer was in a very tight spot, and he knew it. For every attack he blocked, another was there before his eyes could register the movement. In another minute he'd be riddled with cuts and unable to continue. Already he was tiring, and had no options left except one. He'd been hoping he wouldn't have to use it until later in the tournament, but this was an extenuating circumstance. He just needed to get enough distance to throw his spear.

Scorpion was hardly making short work of Vincent, but the battle was going in his favor. The man had a maddeningly large number of tricks, but Scorpion was a veteran fighter, and knew how to adapt. His fire attacks couldn't hurt the denizen of Hell, and his gun seemed to only halt him temporarily. Blizzaga and Thundaga had limited effects on the man, seemingly doing nothing long term. The Midgarian cast haste on himself after his black magic seemed to stop affecting Scorpion, just to keep up with his teleportation. He knew it wouldn't be long though, Scorpion was slowly overwhelming Vincent. He knew Lancer wouldn't be along anytime soon, if at all, and was nearly ready to yield. He could take a loss at this point, but not a debilitating injury.

Ichigo was giving Lancer no respite, no room and no hope. The demigod had tried several times to get some distance, but had only succeeded in allowing Ichigo several openings. At this point, he'd have to use the last of his energy to detonate the spear at close range, and hope he came out of it better than the shinigami he was facing. Ichigo was counting on time being on his side, trying to bleed the other man out before he himself dropped from blood loss. A few bullet wounds and a stomach wound was the end for most people, but Ichigo had never known when to quit.

Abruptly, Lancer caught the shinigami's zanpakuto on his spear, stopping Ichigo's onslaught briefly. Before he could disengage and continue his assault, however, Lancer released all his mana into his spear, smirking as he spoke the (literal) magic words, "Gei Boruku: Tsuki Ugatsu Shisho no Yari (Gae Bolg: The Spear of Striking Death Flight)." The spear, acting as the medium for Lancer's mana, transformed the life energy of the demigod into pure destructive force. The spear held this new energy in itself briefly, then released it in an explosive blast that encompassed all the fighters present.

After the light faded and the dust cleared, DbC was standing in the center of the blast radius, which was considerable, frowning down at the man responsible for the huge crater in the mall. A crater he was responsible for, and was expected to fix. Looking at the various contestants, he saw they were all, miraculously, still breathing. Snapping his fingers, he summoned four teams of medics, one per contestant. Before they could do what they did best, DbC said quickly, "Wait a moment. We need a winner from this confrontation. The first to regain consciousness and stand up takes their team to victory."

Ichigo had heard the last part of DbC's sentence. Groaning slightly, he rolled over and began the laborious task of picking himself off the ground. Just before he'd regained his footing, a voice from behind brought a scowl to his face, "Too slow, shinigami. But we still win." Scorpion was shuffling over to his fallen teammate, who was much closer to the center of the blast than he'd been. It was impressive the boy could get back to his feet after that, and everything else.

Turning as quickly as he could to face his 'teammate', which wasn't very fast at all, Ichigo replied, "Whatever. You better hope we don't meet anytime soon on opposite sides. I've got five hours of shit to pay back to you."

Returning the redhead's glare with one of his own, Scorpion simply turned around, trying to find something else to take his frustration out on. So he missed the gratified smirk on his ex-teammate's face as he fell backwards, out like a light.

And there was DbC, standing in the middle of it all, still immensely pleased with himself. These pairings would make future confrontations so much more… interesting.


	4. Round 4

Staring across the intervening space, Kurosaki Ichigo studied his next opponent. It was a short, blue furball apparently created through some sort of alien experimentation. Ichigo had no idea about its strengths and weaknesses, except one thing, "So, I hear you carried my ass outta Kyuubi's firestorm. I appreciate it." Taking his sword from his back and bringing it to a ready stance, he finished, "Don't think that'll save you from defeat!"

Stitch, though he understood Ichigo's little speech, was also expecting it. The young man seemed rather hot-headed, which is funny, since Stitch could lose it with the best of them. Nevertheless, the little alien was moving as soon as Ichigo was, pulling some plasma rifles from his storage compartment and firing at the shinigami. Ichigo managed to deflect or dodge everything Stitch sent his way, and tried a powerful downward slash when he finally made it to the furball.

Stitch wasn't that easy, however, and got out of the way of the powerful strike. When he looked back to follow the human's movement, however, he saw that Ichigo was already gone! As soon as Stitch landed, he was off, desperately trying to find his opponent and keep himself from becoming a stationary target. However, with a deft shunpo the substitute death god was able to get ahead of the experiment, and nearly won the fight with a mere outstretched sword.

Stitch wasn't the strongest of his 600+ family for no reason, however, and managed to move just enough to keep himself from a debilitating wound. He still came away with a cut on his right side, but it was shallow and bleeding slowly, a good sign. Growling at the human standing calmly in front of him, Stitch curled into a small ball and shot towards Ichigo's surprised face. The young man hadn't seen anything like this creature before. It had a sixth sense, could move as fast as the death god himself with shunpo, and whatever those pistols were about, they'd hurt if they hit. It was turning into a good fight!

Smiling fiercely now, Ichigo waited for the little alien to stop rolling around. It would have to for it to attack him, unless it planned on a medicine ball attack. His eyes tracking the zigzag path of the little furball, the orange-haired teen brought his blade down where he expected the alien to show up. His calculations were right on, for Stitch's previous trajectory, but the alien had been waiting for an attack. Quickly changing course enough that he would bypass the blade, Stitch exploded into the air and out of his protective ball.

To be met with a smirking shinigami, whose blade was pointed sharp end towards Stitch. With a heave upwards, Ichigo shouted, "Getsuuga Tenshou!" The alien experiment was fully caught by the attack, and sent skywards as fast as the crescent moon of reiatsu could take him. In half a minute, Stitch was plummeting back towards planet earth and the mall of the world, contemplating how much this was going to hurt. _Damn kids with their music…_

Ichigo watched as the tough little furball collided with the ground a few yards from him, expecting another round in this fight. His surprise was evident when DbC stepped from out of nowhere, proclaiming him the winner. Puzzled, Ichigo asked the cocoalicious host, "Hey, I'm pretty sure the little guy can keep going! Why are you stopping the damn fight?!"

Turning towards his rather annoying entrant, DbC responded in an equally annoyed tone, "Because you two started late! I had to go with the last decisive blow. If Stitch had managed to hit you with his last attack, it would have been his victory. Next time I'd suggest you start fighting when I tell you to if you want to fight longer!"

Harrumphing, DbC made his way back to his executive sweet to torture a certain pointy haired middle-management type. Watching the milk chocolaty demon walk away, Ichigo felt a presence at his side. Looking down, he saw his opponent watching DbC as well. Sighing, Ichigo said easily, "Ah, forget him. Next time you'll win for sure. How about some lunch?"

Grinning his toothy, wide grin, Stitch immediately took a comfortable seat on the death god's head, grabbing hair with three hands and pointing straight ahead with the last one. Smirking at the experiment's two-year-old antics, Ichigo shunpo-ed away. There was a place he'd seen earlier that looked good…


End file.
